diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 190e0ea0..1204503d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,3 +9,7 @@ public/codemirror-bundle.js
 .env
 .cache/
 dev-app-update.yml
+
+# Scratch space (Skaleet workspace convention)
+.work-files/
+
diff --git a/eslint.config.js b/eslint.config.js
index 3ea234f3..7e02cc7d 100644
--- a/eslint.config.js
+++ b/eslint.config.js
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ const rendererCrossFileGlobals = {
   renderMemories: 'readonly',
   loadWorkFiles: 'readonly',
   renderWorkFiles: 'readonly',
+  removeWorkFileFromCache: 'readonly',
   openWorkFile: 'readonly',
   clearNotifications: 'readonly',
   setSessionMcpActive: 'readonly',
diff --git a/public/app.js b/public/app.js
index 449379c2..ac5dc703 100644
--- a/public/app.js
+++ b/public/app.js
@@ -45,9 +45,11 @@ const workFilesPanel = new ViewerPanel(workFilesViewer, {
   onDelete: async (filePath) => {
     const result = await window.api.deleteWorkFile(filePath);
     if (result && result.ok) {
-      // Hide the panel and reload the list
+      // Hide the panel and surgically remove the entry from the cached list.
+      // We avoid loadWorkFiles() because the full disk re-scan can freeze the
+      // UI on projects with large .work-files/ trees (e.g. tagpay = 39k files).
       workFilesViewer.style.display = 'none';
-      if (typeof loadWorkFiles === 'function') loadWorkFiles();
+      if (typeof removeWorkFileFromCache === 'function') removeWorkFileFromCache(filePath);
     }
     return result;
   },
diff --git a/public/plans-memory-view.js b/public/plans-memory-view.js
index 1d2b3da3..81c2fadb 100644
--- a/public/plans-memory-view.js
+++ b/public/plans-memory-view.js
@@ -297,6 +297,22 @@ async function loadWorkFiles() {
   renderWorkFiles();
 }
 
+// Remove a single deleted file from the in-memory model and re-render.
+// Avoids re-running the (sometimes slow) full disk scan in get-work-files.
+function removeWorkFileFromCache(filePath) {
+  for (const proj of cachedWorkFilesData) {
+    const idx = proj.files.findIndex(f => f.filePath === filePath);
+    if (idx !== -1) {
+      proj.files.splice(idx, 1);
+      if (typeof proj.totalCount === 'number') proj.totalCount = Math.max(0, proj.totalCount - 1);
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  // Drop projects that no longer have files
+  cachedWorkFilesData = cachedWorkFilesData.filter(p => p.files.length > 0);
+  renderWorkFiles();
+}
+
 function renderWorkFiles(filterIds) {
   workFilesContent.innerHTML = '';
   if (cachedWorkFilesData.length === 0) {